Dealing with back pain through chiropractic treatment

View full sizeDANIEL ZAMPOGNA, The Patriot-NewsJim McDaniel goes to a chiropractor to manage his back pain.

“Oh, my aching back!” Chances are most of us have heard or uttered that familiar complaint more than once. In fact, statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that nearly 30 percent of Americans deal with chronic back pain.

Low back pain brings some 6 million people to the emergency room annually, searching for a remedy to discomfort that can range from dull to piercing. The treatments for back pain are as varied as the causes. Here, we introduce you to one of six people we interviewed to find out how they are managing their pain.

“I’ve had some shoulder and back pain recently, and I notice it most when I am doing yard work or any heavy lifting,” the 34-year-old Hampden Twp. resident said. “Of course your knee-jerk reaction is to reach out to a doctor and get some pain medication or muscle relaxer, but that’s just a temporary fix.”

Now, McDaniel’s first go-to person is his chiropractor.

“I look at the chiropractor as fixing the problem, not putting a Band-Aid on it,” McDaniel said. “It makes sense to me. Your nerves all come from your spine. It’s kind of like a hose with a kink in it; if things get out of balance, you have to address it and get it flowing again.”

Indeed, the spine is the conduit for the nervous system and the balance of the spine influences the integrity of the nervous system, said Dr. William Shaffer, a chiropractor in Hampden Twp.

“A chiropractor locates misaligned vertebrae or spinal segments that are interfering with the nervous system for whatever reason and addresses them in order to reduce inflammation and immobility,” he said.

In McDaniel’s case, his neck was out of alignment and the misaligned vertebrae were putting pressure on nerves in his shoulder and arms, causing back, neck and shoulder discomfort.

After locating the sublaxation, or misalignment, chiropractors correct it either manually or with a hand-held torque-release instrument.

Initially, McDaniel had to get treatments three times weekly; now he’s on a maintenance plan of monthly visits. Though he probably wouldn’t have to go every month because his pain is resolved, he said he plans to continue because he wants to keep his spine in balance.

“I’m a very active person — I camp, I kayak — so I need to keep in good shape. Chiropractic helps me to that,” he said. “I see chiropractic both as a treatment for an acute problem and as maintenance.”

He knows some people, including medical doctors, don’t believe that chiropractic care can work, but McDaniel said he is open to alternative methods of care, especially when they work.

“Greater numbers of people are turning to chiropractic care,” Shaffer said. “I think it’s our lifestyle. People are eating badly, exercising less and finding themselves in more pain.”